Cassini captures new images of icy moon

During the flyby, Cassini created a 30-frame mosaic of Rhea’s leading hemisphere and the side of the moon that faces away from Saturn.

By NASA/JPL — Published: March 13, 2012

Rhea close-up

Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

These raw, unprocessed images of Saturn’s second largest moon, Rhea, were taken March 10, 2012, by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. This was a relatively distant flyby with a close-approach distance of 26,000 miles (42,000 kilometers), well suited for global geologic mapping.

During the flyby, Cassini captured these distinctive views of the moon’s cratered surface, creating a 30-frame mosaic of Rhea’s leading hemisphere and the side of the moon that faces away from Saturn. The observations included the large Mamaldi (300 miles across [480km]) and Tirawa (220 miles across [360km]) impact basins and the 29-mile (47km) ray crater Inktomi, one of the youngest surface features on Rhea (about 950 miles across [1,530km]).

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NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

Portrait of Rhea

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CLIFFORD J DAVIS from KENTUCKY said:

About the photos - they are awesome! These images make me realize that each of those points of light are another whole world waiting for exploration.

So, I'm sure that Mongo is still out there somewhere, waiting.

Submitted: 3/16/2012 10:26:56 PM (CST)